November 30, 2007
State Legislatures Need to Pay More Attention to the Changes in China
PHOENIX – State legislatures need to be aware of the demographic, political, economic and educational changes taking place in China, a noted author today told state legislators and state legislative staff.
Veteran journalist Ted Fishman, who has written an international best-seller “China, Inc.,” shared his observations about China at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ annual Fall Forum meeting in Phoenix.
Whenever he testifies in Washington, D.C., Fishman said he tells Congress, “What (Congress) thinks about China is important, but what is really important about China happens at the state and local level.”
Every one of NCSL’s Standing Committees, which met this week, are influenced by events in China, Fishman said, whether the issue is trade, jobs, economy, health or education.
A national agenda item in China is to move more people to cities, he said. “It is the biggest demographic shift in the history of mankind.” People are moving from rural areas to metropolitan areas. Cities the size of Phoenix are created on a regular basis, he added. In his travels, he says residents there consider cities of 1 million to be “small.”
Other statistics are historic, he said. For example, 1.5 to 2 million new jobs are being created every month. Global exports are up to $900 billion. Perhaps the most threatening to the United States – and one he believes state legislatures need to react to -- he said, is that 125 million new businesses have been created in China, compared to only around 26 million in this country.
As the United States loses its “industrial clusters, the opportunities for entrepreneurs here shrink,” he said.
Another advantage for China is that most of their products are sourced locally, he said. He quoted an executive from Wal-Mart who told him they get an “overwhelming” amount of their products from local sources.
There are six times as many Chinese as residents of the United States, he told NCSL. The country is close to becoming the world’s largest economy. The average worker is paid 65 cents an hour.
State legislators need to be aware that with the influx of money, the Chinese are looking for economic opportunities, which includes buying mid-size businesses in America with the intent to expand them.
Despite the economic expansion, the country’s education system has actually gone “backward,” Fishman said. The country has done a “national triage” and focused more and more resources on top tier students.
At the same time, “Today, China has the world’s largest university system,” with more universities than the U.S. and India combined. They have 10 times as many science and engineering students as the U.S.
China is an unusual strategic partner for the United States. “China is a kind of government where we traditionally do not make our best friend,” he said, citing concerns with the government’s authoritarian style and allegations of corruption. The country’s biggest proponents, though, he noted, are international companies.
Since state legislators “are the bullpen for national leadership,” he encouraged lawmakers to pay more attention to events in China, since it will remain an important issue for many years to come.
NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.
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